Oh my god I have this movie on DVD!!

Definitely qualifies for the 'So Bad It's Good' sweepstakes. Harmless fun. Martians worried their kids aren't happy try to bring Santa to Mars. One of their number doesn't believe their kids need Santa and undermines them at every turn. Science fair quality sets, D-grade community theater costumes, dialogue so wooden you could carve a cup out of it. If you like bad movies, you'll LOVE this one. I certainly enjoy them.

Definitely a candidate for a "So Bad It's Good!" award. I have to believe the picture incorporates some deliberate tongue-in-cheek. I especially like the hardware-store attachments on the martians' surplus football helmets - flexible conduit such as you'd see atop your water heater, and bent coat hangers.

How could anyone take this flick too seriously? Especially after seeing the leader of the expedition to Earth stick the muzzle of some sort of weapon right in the kids' faces while simultaneously telling them not to be afraid! The cardboard-box robot was a nice touch, too.

There is a message in the story, too: Parents need to let their kids just be kids while they have the chance, rather than expecting them to be "little adults."

All in all, a worthwhile romp.

Now I don't know what the other guy was on when he wrote the review, because this is a fun, innocent movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. Part 60s time capsule (Santa smoking a pipe!), part legit children's movie, this is one of those movies that everybody needs to see at least once. In fact, I make a point to watch this every holiday season. And why not? There's cheesy acting and lines and ridiculous special effects for adults to laugh at, and a fun story for the kids to enjoy.

One last thing. I noticed the martians look a lot like The Great Gazoo, the alien that hung out with Fred and Barney.

I'm a huge fan of movies that are so bad they're good. Give me "Robot Monster" or "Star Pilot," I immediately loose five IQ points, and I'm happily off to the whacko world of cardboard sets and gorilla suits. Often funnier that intended comedy, I hold them and their screwball producers with great affection. Now this is movie is listed by many as so bad it's good. It's not. Yeah, it has the cheesy sets, crummy effects and awful acting - but it also has one of the most mean-spirited plots you're likely to run across in a so-called children's movie. Put yourself in the place of an eight-year old kid in 1964, who is going through daily duck-and-cover drills at school. Then show him B-52's in flight, missiles being launched and TV reports of defenses being put on alert. How delighted do you think he'd be? Top it off by showing him two little kids being kidnapped at gunpoint, and then constantly pursued by an ugly green guy who's trying to kill them and Santa Claus. How charmed do you think he'd be by this "Christmas" movie? The Grinch stole Christmas, but he didn't try to knock off the Whos. However, the main reason why this turkey doesn’t qualify as so bad it's good is it may be an el cheapo production, but it's missing that vital element of earnest incompetence that makes films like "Plan 9" such delights and hysterically funny. However, it definitely qualifies as a what-the-hell-were-they-thinking.